Patients at Kelowna General Hospital鈥檚 emergency room are assessed and treated faster than at most other hospitals around B.C.听
The median length of stay at KGH鈥檚 ER department is three hours and 24 minutes. The comparable average at 30 major B.C. hospitals is four hours and 13 minutes, an increase of 61 minutes over the past five years.听
Across Canada, median waiting and treatment times varied from two hours and 45 minutes in Newfoundland to five hours and 23 minutes in Quebec, according to a survey done by MEI, a think tank with offices in Calgary and Montreal.听
鈥淭hese longer wait times are not just numbers - they represent real Canadians who face delays in receiving critical care that cause needless pain or distress,鈥 economist Emmanuelle Faubert, author of the report, said in a Tuesday release.听
鈥淚n all provinces, wait times are worse today than they were five years ago, a clear sign that our healthcare systems are struggling to provide their patients with timely access to care,鈥 Faubert said.听
In B.C., the average patient spent a median four hours and 13 minutes in the emergency room last year. That鈥檚 up by one hour and one minute over the past I鈥檝e years.听
The longest wait time at a B.C. hospital was at both Victoria General and Abbotsford Regional, with a median length of stay of six hours and 36 minutes. Victoria鈥檚 Royal Jubilee was third, at six hours and 18 minutes.听
鈥淗aving to spend long hours in an emergency room may be the norm in B.C., but in other developed countries, it isn鈥檛,鈥 Faubert said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that solving the issue of long wait times requires at looking at best practices from abroad, such as Europe鈥檚 mixed systems, to finally give patients the timely access they deserve.鈥
Of B.C.鈥檚 30 major hospitals, the median length of stay in KGH鈥檚 ER was eighth lowest. The shortest median length of stay, at just under three hours, was at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver.听
Neither Penticton Regional nor Vernon Jubilee were included in the analysis of wait times.听
- This story corrects an earlier version which erroneously stated the median length of stay at KGH's ER had dropped by one minute.听
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